A New Sidebar for Konqueror

Synopsis:

The current sidebar in Konqueror has outlived it's usefulness. I intend to write a complete replacement that combines most of the current functionality with new features and fits in better with whether the user is browsing file based protocols or the web.

Goals:

The primary goal is to improve the functionality and usability of Konquerors sidebar. There are a number of problems with the current sidebar; the services tab has been used as a dumping ground for functionality that couldn't fit in anywhere else, features that are web specific are seen when browsing the file system and vice versa etc. These problems should be fixed.

Project Details:

The vertical tabbed (ideal mode) will be scrapped and instead different sidepanes can be opened by using a combobox at the top of the pane. I plan to spilt the current sidebar into 2 separate ones; one for web browsing and one for file protocols (this could work by using Konquerors profiles). The two sidebars have a slightly different way in which they can be opened. Both can be opened and closed using F9 and the entry in the windows menu like the current sidebar but in addition to this when Konqueror is browsing files there will be a small triangular widget in the top left corner of the iconview that contains a plus sign that will open the sidebar. When the sidebar is open this symbol displays a minus sign and will close the sidebar if pressed.

The sidebar will have the following panes by default in file browsing modes:

A 'Places' pane which contains a list of common folders that the user may need to go to. This will include links to Applications, the users Home folder, network places, setting and storage media and will probably look like the sidebar in MacOSX Panther. Extra files and folders can be added to this side panel by drag and drop.

An 'Emblems' pane for containing colours and emblems that can be dragged onto files and folders.

A 'People' pane for sending files to people in the users address book. This pane display an iconview of people in the users address book which the user can drag files on to to send the files to them.

A 'Tree View' Pane which shows a tree view with the users home as root when the user is in their home directory and has the root of the file heirachy as the root of the tree otherwise.

A 'Metadata/Context' pane which shows a files or folders permissions and metadata and has a space to enter notes on the selected file or folder (see bug #28989 in KDE's bugzilla). This pane should also have a few common actions that can done on the files/folders selected similar to what is in the actions submenu of the right click menu in Konqueror. The list of actions should be editable and saved per folder.

When web browsing the sidebar will include the following panes:

A 'Bookmarks' pane like the current one.

A 'Rss feed' pane like the current one.

A 'History' pane like the current one.

A 'Downloads' pane which shows what files the user is currently downloading. This will probably look like the Firefox downloads dialog. When the user starts a download some text should appear in the status bar showing how many downloads are currently happening and how far they have got overall. When the user clicks this the downloads pane should be made the active pane in the sidebar (and the sidebar should appear if it's not there already).

Like the current sidebar the panes that are included in the side bar can be changed and more added (It will still be possible to add web sidebar modules for example).

Project Schedule:

The first step is to work on some mockup images etc. The next step is to begin talking to the kde usability and artists projects to see if they have any suggestions. I should begin coding very soon.

Motivation:

The two main reasons for doing this is I think it should be a fun project and I'd love to write some code for the kde project. I feel guilty for not having contributed much back after using KDE for so long. It also a great